First of all congratulations! That is very nice! You will love Greece. As for wine stores, where are you going? If you get to Santorini at all, just go to the wineries. There are a few that will surprise you. Domaine Sigalas near Oia has some very very nice wines. If you read my Greece post from a couple of years ago you will find the other wineries that I visited on Santorini. They have a number of local varietals that do well. For the whites. Assyrtiko produces a very nicely round wine. They also use it to blend in for their Vin Santo (which they claim came from there....Vin Santo...get it Vin Santorini... err. I think that's a stretch but a good story....

At Greek restaurants I've tried various red wines from the island of Rhodes and also a white wine from Cyprus, Saint Panteleimon (on the sweet side but can be an aperitif or after-dinner drink.) The producer of Saint Panteleimon seems to be Keo. A sweet red wine is Mavrodaphne from Achaia region of Peloponnese. It is said to be one of the favorite wines of Greeks. I never acquired a taste for Retsina wines.

With all the time that we had on Santorini, I could not resist going out to a few of the islandâ€™s wineries. While there were quite a few, I settled on three to visit slowly as was characteristic of the rest of the itinerary. I was kinda looking forward to this because how often do you get a chance to go see a brand new wine area, one with a very unique vine management approach. The greeks are famous for wrapping their vines into shapes of baskets and keeping them low to the ground versus the more traditional trellising system.
The first one I visited as Sigalas which is located just outside of Oia where we were staying. It was a steep decent into the lowlands from the cliffs and the driving was tricky. I was looking forward to seeing the vines and the fruits inside them which protect the fruits from sand storms. I was shocked to see that at Sigalas, they had a few planted areas outside of their main gates on trellis systems. The person in the winery told us that this was experimental only and that the rest of the winery was more traditional. I went out into the vineyard and did find the traditional system but the vines were growing at a large rate and made the vines look almost like bushes. Still it was interesting to see.

I tried the following wines

2006 Santorini AOC/OPAP
Pretty pale gold color. Nose was like a unoaked chardonnay, but some citrus notes but not overtly strong. Very dry, crisp, and round mouth feel (13% alcohol for this guy). Good density of flavours and medium finish but it was the acidity that made this appealing. I would have this wine as a daily quaffer. (around $8 on the island)

2005 Oia Barrel AOC Bit darker in colour as this one has seen oak. On the nose, very different, with honey, still good fruitiness but I canâ€™t pull out the fruit and definitely not overtly oaked, just a hint of vanilla. I agreed with the presenter that this tasted a bit like a dry Riesling in mouthfeel especially.

2003 Santorini AOC
This wine is starting to tire, the wine is flatter, the acidity is toned way down, still a bit of smokiness and nice minerality that is a bit more evident. Needs drinking quickâ€¦

2005 Mezzo: Drinks a bit like a late harvest Riesling, nice, crisp and still all the inherent flavours of the OPAP, but only more dense. Pretty.

2003 Vinsanto: This was the best wine I had on the island. Nose of preserved prunes (â€œWah Muiâ€), honey, molasses, musty, etc,â€¦.complex enough to stand up to a good LBV port. Very thick, very dark in colour, solid entry and mouth feel and a super long length. However, the assyrtiko acidity kept things very fresh still. I did not buy any and I regret that.

The next winery was Santos Winery. What a beautiful site. It is at the very top of the cliff with about a 300m/1000ft down to a Mediterranean bay, located just South of Fira. They have probably the largest winery facility on the island and would not look out of place on I-29 in Napaâ€¦only it is bigger than most of those. Impressive.

2006 Santorini Assyrtico. Light hay in colour, very dry with okay aromatic nose, very light, High on the acidity but little fruit.

2006 Santorini Nykteri. A blend of Assyrtiko, Athiri and Aidani. Brought the wine a bit more fruitiness but the body suffered as it was no longer a crisp. A bit more fruit on the nose but only a bit.

2006 Vedema Rose.
This is a combination of Assyrtiko and Mandilaria, slightly sweeter on palate, good acidity but very little to go back for.

2005 Vedema Red
From the red Mandilaria variety, Medium garnet in colour, Nose was muted, and on palate, thin, tannic, and a hint of strawberries. No exactly crowd pleaser.

2005 Mezzo(?):
A bit like a simple late harvest Riesling, only lacking in the nose and despite acidity, it is a bit flat.

2003 Vinsanto
Blended from Assyrtico and Aidani with several months in oak barrels. Again, very dark and nose of Chinese preserved prunes (â€œWah Muiâ€) spices, raisins and molasses. Good mouthfeel but lacked the presense and structure of the Sigalas version

The wines were okay, sound but not very much beyond that. But the winery is definitely worth a visit if for nothing but the view. Their tomato paste though was very very nice.

The last winery was Boutari Winery located in the south part of the island. They are the largest winery but the customer center was nothing like Santos. Perhaps they put the money into the wineâ€¦.. We only tried three wines.

2006 Assyrtiko
Pale gold hay in colour, citric nose, high acidity and very crisp, dry, though a decently rounded mouthfeel.

2003 Vinsanto
Dark amber in colour, Typical nose now of Chinese â€œWah Muiâ€ but not as raw or powerful, more elegant, brown sugar, mollasses. Very nice mouthfeel and good balance with the acidity. Long long finish

All in all, confirmed a few things about Greek wines that we learn and there were a few surprises too. Most off all, the people there take it seriously. They are into their wines and invest heavily into the production of it. They are proud of their products and while Iâ€™m not sure they are ready to take on the world just yet, they do have reason to be proud of their efforts.